Can nanotechnology make better movies?

DEWITT, N.Y. - If you're looking to blow something up for a major
Hollywood blockbuster these days, you might need a dose of science.

Some
of the materials used to contain those explosions, and ensure they only
blow up the things they're supposed to, are based on nanotechnology.

That's
the science of manipulating individual atoms and molecules, said Alain
Kaloyeros, CEO of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

Those
materials and other innovations will take center stage at a new
nanotech-focused hub planned for Collamer Crossings Business Park in
DeWitt. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the project Tuesday.

Other nanotechnology-related advances that could come into play in the movie business include:

Better cameras
Improved digital storage devices
More powerful computers
New types of software used in editing and post-production

The
DeWitt hub's first tenant is a film production company called The Film
House that will make use of nano-powered moviemaking technology.

The
Film House will focus on making movies. Other companies that populate
the facility will concentrate on research and development of new
technologies, Kaloyeros said.

In addition to the film industry, the hub will try to attract tenants in energy and the medical device sector.

The site will employ 350 people, according to Cuomo. The Nanoscale College will own and manage the facility.

Nanotechnology
allows researchers to design new materials from the ground up and imbue
them with specific characteristics by altering them at the atomic
level, Kaloyeros said.

In filmmaking, the science can foster the
ability to produce movies in ultra-high definition through better
equipment, computer graphics and editing capabilities.

"That's how Superman flies now with this amazing resolution," Kaloyeros said. "It's a nanotechnology achievement."

Modern
filmmaking involves plenty of computers, he added. All phases of
production increasingly rely on high-powered hardware and software.

That
equipment requires the kind of nanotechnology-powered computer chips
now manufactured and researched in New York at facilities like
GlobalFoundries in Malta and the Nanoscale College in Albany.

"If
you look at what a modern production studio looks like, it looks like
Google or Apple office space," Kaloyeros said. "It's all computers,
displays, all innovation that goes into making things look like what
they're not."

Improved camera lenses based on nanotechnology
could certainly come into play in the movie business, said Marlowe
Newman, a spokeswoman for the National Nanotechnology Initiative, a
federal research and development program.

The film industry might also take advantage of the improved data storage capacity made possible by nanotechnology, Newman said.

Fujifilm
says it employs nanotechnology-enabled coatings and particles to create
data cartridges that can hold more than a terabyte, or 1 trillion
bytes. Modern movies are increasingly shot and stored digitally, rather
than on film.

Contact Kevin Tampone at ktampone@syracuse.com or (315) 454-2112. Follow him on Twitter @ktampone.